Sunday, December 30, 2007

Cupcake in Quito

The new me is a work in progress who is stretching fearlessly into the unknown with the belief that no matter what experiences and adventures I have, whether they be good or bad, I will learn, grow, and continue. I will never settle. I will always improvise and smile because I believe 'the heart of life is good.

Since the new year is circling in, I thought I would take a moment to contemplate how my life has changed this year. Aside from the very obvious change of location, many little alterations have snuck up on me. Now, I wear dangly earrings and drink coca-cola zero. I don’t like soda but I am scared of water and vegetables currently. I prefer processed and packaged food to anything from Ecuadorian soil, which is a total 180 from my somewhat health nut former self. Although I don’t like cake anymore, I eat kilos (literally) of popcorn. I swear my current diet consists of popcorn, chocolate, coca cola zero, and beer. I drink $3 box wine and 50 cent beers. I have an unnatural fear of food due to amoebas. I know it might seem silly, but you won’t understand until you house them yourself, which I hope never happens. A little paranoia about my health is good right? Oh and my dentist would kill me if he saw the candy I eat. (Uhem, did someone say gordita?).

I no longer can tell the difference between English or Spanish. However, I can tell the difference between regional Ecuadorian Spanish (coast vs. sierra), Spain Spanish, and the Spanish of Latin America. Instead of spending hours in excel, I spend hours studying the two languages and only open excel to add to my book list or gift list. I am fashion conscious despite the four pairs of pants I rotate weekly. I will amass an enormous collection of bufandas, flats, and earrings before I leave here. And I plan to update my wardrobe the second I get home. How could you let me walk around like this for so long?!?!?

I only sit on the computer for maybe two hours a week. I walk nearly two hours a day. I fear the raccoon eyes I currently have from my sunglasses will never leave my face. I am tan, relatively speaking, in spite of the TONS of sunscreen I wear daily. I cannot remember the last time I felt clean. I dream about baths and Whole Foods. I am always cold, and I only shower when necessary because it just contributes to my constant state of freezing. And the weather determines whether or not I can do laundry. The sun at 10,000 feet at the equator is destroying the few items of clothing I do have. I also dream of dryers and bounce.

I happily discriminate against the disgusting men I encounter in the bars and on the streets, yet I will gladly accept their discrimination against me when they get up to give me their seats on the bus, usher me into a club ahead of the line, or hold the door open. A little macho is good. I currently hold the titles of “princesa, preciosa, reina, linda, guapa, amor, and nina.” For the first time in my life, I have no boy problems. (Well, except the Spanish Stalker, thanks Joel.)

I have not used my debit card in four months. Cash is king. I currently live on $150 a month. Yes a month. I count pennies and measure things in bus rides. Donuts are 25 cents. The “donut lady” and I are best friends. I don’t even like donuts. I swear she puts drugs in them. Popcorn is $1.25 for a kilo (two pounds), bus rides are a quarter, $1 is A LOT of money, 25 roses are $1, bagels are 40 cents, an entire lunch including dessert and juice is $2, DVDs are $1.50, cds are the same, and pedicures are $3 (and two hours). Warm beer doesn’t bother me anymore because it is only $1.50 for liter. And much to my utter dismay, I do not recycle anymore (my heart just started racing as I typed this.)

Tall people shock me, which is ironic considering the last boy I kissed was six foot seven. Here, I am considered tall. Quick transactions, warm water, and people arriving on time surprise me as well.

Friendships have reached entirely new levels. Ashley, “I’m so hot for you” (in a thick British accent). We all play cards as if we were 80 year old ladies in a nursing home. Canasta, skipbo, and casino rule our afternoons. While our Friday nights are muy importante, for our weekly dinners are a must. Happy hour starts at 5 and no one is allowed to disturb me in the kitchen. We LIVE for Friday nights.

I have no sense of urgency for anything. I enjoy that the stores don't open until 10 a.m. and I often can be found drinking at the cubano restaurante at right about that time. Really nice things shock me. I also go to concerts at the theater, write every single day, and frequently fight with taxi drivers. It is not uncommon to feel as if I am always getting ripped off ALL THE TIME because my skin is white. I am use to people staring at me.

I am the “old one” for the first time ever. I let my favorite student paint snowmen on my nails, attend religious events with her, curse dirty old men, fruit, and seafood. I am obsessed with the el gourmet Argentinean cooking channel. Navidad con Dolli was the highlight of last week. I am suspicious of everyone and grateful for everything, especially the emails and packages I receive. Finding ginger ale at the market was the best day of my life here. I always feel gross no matter how much soap I use. My feet are filthy and will be until May. I have seen dead dogs in trash cans on the streets, small children blow gasoline out their mouths for a quarter, and houses without roofs. I have traded my word wall for a Spanish wall. I write with markers and perfumed pens instead of shiny pencils. The only magazine I have read in four months is National Geographic in Spanish (which is HARD). I write poems all the time and send text messages like there is no tomorrow because it is only 2 cents instead of the 40 cents it costs to call (By the way, I can send them to you in the U.S. but you cannot send them to me, I don’t get them). Work is not longer “work”. I get up at 5 a.m. and eat dinner at 10 p.m. I marvel at street vendors. “Do you think they assess the market demand?” “You just said you needed socks…”

I am obsessed with organizing social events because I don’t want to miss out on one thing while I am here. I have the most vivid memories and flashbacks. I can’t remember what a comfortable bed feels like. I have only read two books in four months because I do not believe there are more than 100 English books in this entire country and libraries don’t exist. However, I do read children's books in Spanish for hours a day. I am determined. I have become “thrifty” in a way the author of “Nickeled and Dimed” would be so proud. I have taken advantage of the ability to purchase drugs without a prescription (worry not, only dermatological drugs. I had a prescription for the amoeba pill). I heart Pfizer.

I refuse to dance with strange people when we are out and about. I love dancing in the clubs. I also love writing on social network walls and enjoy flirting with those who “poke” me (p.s. I kind of have a crush on you). I accept chocolate from the man at the internet café I frequent. I LOVE to read the emails you all send me. I don’t care if you are telling me about the new toothpaste you just bought, I want to know. I won't take a cab home by myself. The majority of my best friends are now males. I enjoy every hip hop song I hear however infrequent. And I cannot stop singing The Killers new song, “Leave the Bourbon on the shelf…”

I guess what I have learned this year is that like a chameleon, I fit in anywhere and as much as I have always thought it was a curse, I realize for the first time, it is a blessing because it allows me to enjoy the here and now, which happens to be 10,000 feet in the Andes, latitude zero.

Hahaha, I am very tan but funny story. One of my students asked if I live on the beach at home, why am I so white? I started cracking up. It was only a matter of time before I realized I needed to pay more attention to my fashion and the soda, well that is a result of single celled organisms. I MISS YOU! I LOVE the calendar. Que chevere!!

About Me

This girl's ramblings on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. She is eternally hopeful in a confounding yet delightful way. She's living in color and laughing out loud while trying to figure out what the hell she is going to do with her life.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -- Mark Twain